Page 67 of Novice Girlfriend

“You knew I would come,” I started to defend. “You sent Loki to my house and—”

He ripped out his hair tie and turned to me. “Miles away from your house. When you can’t circle and I didn’t even know you were home. You think—I was thinking rationally?”

“Fair,” I whispered, nodding when he just stared at me. “Fair, okay? It just seemed like…”

He let out a harsh breath and basically dunked his whole head under the water. He scrubbed and scrubbed until he not only got off whatever blood was on him, but most of his skin and probably what was left of his aggression out. Maybe?

Then he whipped off his shirt and used it to dry off somewhat and squeeze out his hair. I simply blinked at him, not having seen him shirtless this close. Link was ripped. Not just built like Winter, Wyatt, or Sergey.

No, he was defined in a way I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen a man before besides on TV or in magazines that were absolutely Photoshopped. His back muscles were insane in a good way, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever been able to tell exactly what muscles were responsible for each movement of the body until I’d watched him a bit too closely in those moments.

He didn’t catch any of it, but then came at me in a way that worried me… And simply leaned against the wall next to the toilet where I sat. He slid to the floor and moved his arms to his knees and stared at his shirt.

His voice was barely a whisper. “Bev, did you sever the bond with Jason Berns’s familiar?”

I swallowed loudly. “Yes.”

Link dropped his head down and then reached for my hand. I took it, unsure of what was going on. He covered his face with his other hand and his shoulders shook from silent sobbing. It took him several minutes to get it out, squeezing my hand before letting go and then wiping his face in his shirt.

He turned his head so he was looking at me, looking younger somehow, but also beaten in a way that hurt my heart as he stared at me. “Why? Why did you do it?”

“You weren’t going to make it to get him,” I said honestly.

Something filled his eyes. “You could have blasted Jason. Me.”

“I can’t hurt you even to save you,” I argued. I let out a heavy breath when he opened his mouth. “What were you saying earlier about thinking rationally?” I gave a half shrug when he snorted. “I don’t know, Link. Even if I blasted him, he could still have blasted you. I pulled the plug on his magic.”

“Permanently,” he said, his voice shaky. “Why?”

“Because he killed someone—someone good,” I answered honestly after a moment. “And I agree with Taylor that it’s time to start taking people off the board. Blasting him would…”

Get me caught? Heal? I wasn’t sure, and I frowned as I stared down at my lap. I had a second to decide and it just seemed like the right call in that moment. I didn’t regret it, but I wasn’t sure I could ever give a real answer.

“Thank you.”

My gaze snapped to his. “What? You’re mad at me.”

“No. Scared for you,” he corrected. “Upset you had to go over that line and what it could mean for you and what you’ll carry.”

“You’re not pissed I did it?” I breathed, shocked because I’d been reading the situation all wrong. Again.

Always.

Something very dark filled his eyes. “The gods were smart not giving me that power because I’d have already used it on a few dozen people. At least. So no, I don’t judge you for doing it. Not at all.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around that.

“I’m worried about how much easier it will be for you to do it again next time and what that will mean for you,” he continued. “How that will change you from the Bevin we all know and care about.”

Well fuck.

16

Bevin

I was beyond shocked when only two of the councilmen were still trying to get me to tell them what I had done to Jason Berns’s familiar. The rest made it clear they wanted to know, but they agreed their own houses were so out of order that clearly the gods were right in not trusting them.

One of their guards was dead—one everyone adored—others were planning to quit, and there was one who was still compromised. So they needed to stop focusing on me and handle their own shit.